Personal tracked vehicles allow their riders to travel over different kinds of terrains. The best known example of a personal tracked vehicle is a snowmobile. Other types include all-terrain vehicles outfitted with (usually four) tracks instead of wheels and stand-up personal tracked vehicles (such as the one shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,575,075).
In these types of vehicles, the track is typically driven by a continuously variable transmission (CVT) connected to the track by a drive sprocket wheel. The vehicle's engine is connected to the CVT, and the CVT delivers power from the engine to the drive sprocket wheel as torque or rotational speed as required by the vehicle's speed and other driving conditions. Typically, at low vehicle speeds or going up an incline, the rotational speed of the engine is greater than that of the drive sprocket wheel and the power from the engine is used to deliver a large torque to the drive sprocket wheel. At high vehicle speeds and on level ground, the rotational speed of the engine is comparable to or greater than that of the drive sprocket wheel, the torque delivered to the drive sprocket wheel is smaller and the power from the engine is used to maintain the rotational speed of the drive sprocket wheel. The CVT provides an infinite number of gears or drive ratios (ratio of rotational speed of the engine to rotational speed of the drive sprocket wheel) to allow better use of the engine's torque for different driving conditions.
This background information is provided for the purpose of making known information believed by the applicant to be of possible relevance to the present invention. No admission is necessarily intended, nor should be construed, that any of the preceding information constitutes prior art against the present application.